Jammy Half Moons (with or without nuts)

So many cookies…so little time! Next up on the holiday hit parade: these Jammy Half Moons, with or without nuts. These were given a resounding 👍👍 by my highly trained taste testers, so much so that I can confidently say that if you’re looking for a new flaky, buttery jam-filled and possibly nut-topped, crescent-shaped cookie to add to your repertoire, that only looks difficult but is actually easy to make, you can’t go wrong with these little bundles!

What makes these empanada wannabees so especially memorable is the buttery flaky dough. It literally melts in your mouth as you bite into it! Part of that comes from the generous amount of butter (remember to fit in that extra workout) and part because you use equal amounts of all-purpose and cake flour so the dough is softer and lighter than other doughs. It comes together quickly by hand and just needs a short chill before it can be rolled out.

Then, it’s just a matter of cutting out circles with a cookie cutter or wide-mouthed glass

And brushing the edges with some beaten egg white to make the folding process more successful.

Next, we add a small dollop of jam to each round—you will be tempted to add more jam, it’s understandable, I totally get it, but here’s a friendly piece of advice: DON’T!! You will wind up with messy cookies oozing sticky blackened jam that no one wants to eat. Trust me, I speak from experience!

After the “jamming”, the cookies get folded into half moons and crimped with a fork to both decorate and seal the edges.

Next, after a short chilling stint, the tops get brushed with more egg white and sprinkled with crunchy sugar. Now you can either bake—

Or press on some sliced almonds.

A tin of these would make a wonderful gift, but I do understand that it might be difficult to give them away!!

Rich, buttery, flaky pastry, sweet jammy centers, possibly nutty tops—what’s not to adore?!!

And the weekend’s coming which makes it a perfect time to bake up a batch and see for yourself! I’ll be back next week as always, with more goodies and gab. Have a safe and delicious one!xoxo

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Jammy Half Moons (with or without nuts)

Makes about 20 cookies

Prep Time for dough: 12 minutes, plus at least 1 hour of chilling time and up to 2 days; Assembly Time: 25-30 minutes, plus at least 10 minutes chilling time; Bake Time: 25 minutes

Ingredients

• ¾ cup unbleached, all-purpose flour

• ¾ cup cake flour

• 2 tablespoons sugar

• 12 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces and chilled

• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

• 1 large egg white, lightly beaten

• Raspberry jam (about ½ cup and you can use any other jam or a variety of them if you prefer)

• Demerara sugar

• Thinly sliced almonds (optional)

The Recipe

1. In a medium bowl, whisk both of the flours with the 2 tablespoons sugar. Scatter the chilled butter across the mixture and use a pastry blender to blend the butter into the flour until a coarse meal is formed. Sprinkle the vanilla over the dough and use your hands to gently knead the mixture together until a dough forms. Pat the dough into a disk, wrap well in plastic and chill for at least 1 hour and up to 2 days.

2. Preheat oven to 350ºF and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Lightly flour a board and your rolling pin. Cut the dough in half (if if’s very hard, let it soften a bit before rolling out, but you don’t want the dough to get too warm or it will get sticky). and roll out one half at a time, to about ⅛-inch thickness. Use a 3-inch round biscuit cutter or wide-mouthed glass (that’s what I did) and flour it, then cut out as many circles as possible and carefully transfer the circles to the prepared pans. Gather together the scraps and roll out again until there is no more dough to use, then start on the second piece.

3. Once all the dough has been cut into circles and transferred to the baking sheets, use a pastry brush to brush the edges of each circle with a little bit of the beaten egg white (this will help the dough to seal when you fold it). Spoon a teaspoonful of jam onto one half of each circle, leaving a ¼ -inch border (don’t be tempted to overfill these—it will only squish out when you fold). Reserve the remaining egg white.

4. Fold the the non-jam side over to make a half moon and use the tines of a fork to crimp the edges to seal the cookies well. Space the cookies about 2 inches apart and place the trays in the fridge for at least 10 minutes.

5. Now brush the tops of each cookie with the egg white and sprinkle a nice amount of the demerara sugar and sliced almonds (if using). Bake the trays one at a time for about 25 minutes, turning front to back at the midway mark, until cookies are golden brown. Transfer the tray to a wire rack to cool. Cookies can be stored in an airtight container for 2-3 days at room temperature.

Enjoy!

Note: Recipe adapted from Food & Wine Magazine. I tinkered with some of the techniques and used seeded jam and demerara sugar instead of seedless and confectioners’. I also subbed in equal amounts of cake flour and regular all-purpose for the pastry flour.